Before you go check your cars tire pressure as well as your spares to avoid flat tires during the course of your journey. Take few minutes to check out your tires for any wear and tear. If the tread is worn down replace your tires.

Belts and hoses

Look under the hoods to check that all your belts and hoses for any signs of cracks. Ensure that they are in good shape .If you find any signs of wear and degrade it’s better to replace them with a new one.

Wiper Blades

Wipers blades are susceptible to summer heat. Check your wiper blades to ensure that they are in good condition. If there is any wear and tear replace them.

Cooling System

Coolant avoids over heating of your vehicle’s engine. Check the coolant level to ensure that it is adequate. Refill or flush your cooling system if necessary.

Fluid Levels

Check your oil level periodically and if needed change oil as it’s the good time to do it. Service your vehicle if you find any signs of fluid leakage.

Lights

Check all your vehicles light to ensure that they are in working condition. Check out your headlights, brake lights, and interior and trailer lights.

AC Check

Check the performance of your AC to ensure that it is working properly before you go. Get it repaired it is not functioning properly.

Emergency Kit

There are some chances for a vehicle break down even after proper maintenance and car care checklist. It’s better to always have an emergency kit in car. Some of the suggested emergency roadside kits include:

American Trucking Association (ATA) as a measure to enhance Safety on the highway has advised the motorist to follow the safety guidelines offered by the America’s expert truckers. Following are the guidelines offered by the USA’s professional truck drivers:

Do pre-trip inspections – Before you leave your home check your vehicles tire pressure, fluids and wipers. Even this simple maintenance can prevent many problems that leave motorists on the side of the road.

Plan your journey – Avoid traffic problems by pre-planning your trip. Be prepared and make out where you are going.

Check weather conditions - Check the weather forecast often before you move. Watch for road ends and diversion.

Huge Trucks Have Blindspots – The truck drivers can’t see you if you can’t see the truck driver in his or her mirrors.

Do not cut in front of large trucks – Avoid taking cuts in front of large trucks as they are heavier and take a longer to make a complete stop.

Pay Attention –Distracted driving is the major cause for many accidents. Getting distracted even for a second can cause a major accident. Switch off your mobile phones and PDSs while driving.

Are you still using your one hand to do just anything while driving? If yes then beware New York police is watching you. If you are doing so then you will be penalized by the US government for being practicing hand free driving

US Gov announced $1 million enforcement law to strengthen the state’s newly distracted driving law even steeper. This law is enforced as another step to minimize the accident caused by texting or handling phone during driving. The previous law that had three demerit points for a driver’s license for convicting hand free driving now changed to five. Cuomo says for young driver’s penalties will be even steeper and the first conviction will get a license suspension of 60-days.

They sit a little higher above so that they can have a clear look on where your hands are. If they didn’t find both of your hands on the steering while driving they will pull you out for that offense.

"Out of every five crashes about one is caused by distracted driving"says Cuomo’s office. New York’s anti-distraction law is primary and hopes this might reduce the crash level caused by distracted driving.

According to a recent article that was published in the Wall Street Journal, the House Democrats are putting their thinking caps on to come up with a new transportation spending bill that could cost approximately $450 billion over the next six years. However, the bill is just in the beginning stages and hasn't quite come to fruition yet.

Among other things that this bill would propose include (but are not limited to) the following items:

Reducing oil consumption in order to boost economic growth.

Consolidate (to 6 or fewer) the number of Transportation Department programs used to channel money to the states, which would allow local officials more flexibility to deal with transportation issues.

All of this seems like a fine idea, but where is the money coming from? In a nation that has already seen the economy take a dive downward, it seems that there isn't any more money to spare. According to the article, the question of how to pay for the nation's aging infrastructure is rapidly becoming a nagging issue for Congress. The article goes on to state:

All of that being said what options does this leave us? Is there a way to address the problems that the transportation industry is facing without having to reach so deeply into our pockets?

The day has finally arrived. The big move is here. All of your boxes and bags are packed and loaded up, ready to be re-located to your new residency. All that remains to be shipped are your own personal means of transportation i.e your car.

Finding a proper company to take care of shipping your vehicles is a decision that should be researched. Rates and other such information should be gathered and compared. Once a decision has been made and a company has been chosen it is time to prep your automobile for the actual trip.

When shipping your automobiles there are many questions which may arise. Do I need to drop the vehicle off or will it be picked up? Is it possible to transport personal belongings in the car while it is being transported? Is it cheaper for me to drive it as opposed to having it professionally transported? These questions are endless and can easily be researched and answered by respected car transporting companies.

There are also certain "tips" which if taken into consideration can help with the efficiency in which the transportation takes place. One request which many shipping companies make is that , no more than 1/4 of a tank of gasoline should be present in the tank at the time of the move.

The reason for this is to assist in the fuel efficiency of the truck which is actually transporting the other cars. One gallon of gasoline weighs approximately 5.93lbs to 6.42lbs per gallon depending on type, temperature, and blend. Blends containing methanol as opposed to water or benzene will vary in weight per gallon.

Now, using the same scenario, we will calculate the weight of gasoline when the autos tanks are filled only 1/4 of maximum capacity. If there are only 4.5 gallons of gas in each of the tanks, the weight is reduced to a combined 288.9 lbs. This is a significant drop in weight and can contribute to the overall efficiency of shipping your vehicle. The less weight the truck is hauling in cars, the more resourcefully it travels per gallon. So when you're prepping your car for cross country transportation, remember, in this case less is better!

US president Obama’s new financial plan that revealed a few months ago includes plans to boost the automobile industry across the United States. It’s a major boon for the Auto Dealers, Transporters and manufacturers of alternatively-fueled automobiles.

The plan is a tax credit for manufacturers of vehicles that are commonly used, run on alternative fuels and that exceed the miles-per-gallon equivalent by at least 25%. It would go up to $10,000 to the manufacturer of the automobile instead of going to the automobile purchaser.

On the whole the budget provides $143-billion to the Energy Department to fund research and development which will bolster the manufacturing and advertising of vehicles even better than the previous ones.A budget of $575-million will be provided for growth and demonstration of the next production of superior vehicles, which is an increase of 75% over the 2012 budget.

An additional tax credit would go to customers of medium and heavy duty commercial vehicles that run on alternative fuels weighing more than 14,000 pounds.

Observing safety awareness month in May NHTSA reminds the motorists to share the road with the motorcyclists safely.

Even though automobiles victims have declined in past years, motorcycle deaths are increasing every year. “Both motorcyclist and motorists have equal responsibilities in sharing the road safely to avoid motorcyclist's deaths and injuries” said US Department of transportation secretary Ray LaHood.

In connection with this NHTSA offers safety recommendations to prevent motorcyclist's deaths and injuries:

NHTSA safety recommendations for motorcyclists:

Avoid impaired or distracted riding.

Do wear DOT-compliant helmets and abide by the traffic rules.

Avoid riding in bad weather conditions.

Make use of turn signals for every turn or lane change.

Draw more attention to yourself by combining hand signals and turn signals.